World's first plastic gun made with 3D printer, successfully fired in the United States

Plastic gun, made by Defense Distributed with 3D printer, successfully fired in the United States

The successful firing of the world’s first plastic gun made with 3D printing technology, has brought immediate calls for a ban on so-called “undetectable weapons.”

The gun, called “The Liberator”, was made and developed in Austin, Texas by a non-profit organization called Defense Distributed, which claims its purpose is to “produce and publish information related to the 3D printing of firearms.”

The weapon was made with a 3D printer bought on eBay for just $8,000, and constructed by assembling 15 printed components made from ABS plastic. According to the BBC, which witnessed the weapon’s first test, only the 16th piece, the firing pin, is made from metal.

While Defense Distributed sees its guns as a way for people to defend themselves, at least one U.S. lawmaker wants the weapons to be made illegal.

Sen. Charles Schumer claims the plastic design would make the weapons undetectable by airport scanners.

“Guns are made out of plastic, so they would not be detectable by a metal detector at any airport or sporting event,” Schumer told reporters. “Only metal part of the gun is the little firing pin and that is too small to be detected by metal detectors, for instance, when you go through an airport.”

“A terrorist, someone who’s mentally ill, a spousal abuser, a felon can essentially open a gun factory in their garage,” Schumer added.

The weapon can fire a .380 handgun round, but Forbes, which was on hand for the firing, claimed a larger 5.7×28 rifle cartridge was tested, and blew apart The Liberator.

3D printing technology is seen as one future direction for manufacturing. Typically, it takes a digital representation of an object, and recreates it physically by laying down thin layers of material, usually plastics, until the digital file is literally printed in three dimensions.

The object could be an iPhone case, a simple tool, a high-capacity magazine, or if Defense Distributed has its way, all the parts for a single-use firearm. The notion behind 3D printing is that as sophisticated printers become more affordable, consumers can download designs at home for the goods they might otherwise purchase, and “manufacture” these goods themselves.

Forbes explained the technical process for creating the weapon on a 3D printer: “Fifteen of its 16 pieces have been created inside an $8,000 second-hand Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer, a machine that lays down threads of melted polymer that add up to precisely-shaped solid objects just as easily as a traditional printer lays ink on a page.”

The 25-year-old head of Defense Distributed, Cody Wilson, a law student at the University of Texas who claims the project is “about liberty,” told the BBC that most people “weren’t expecting that this could be done.”

“There is a demand of guns — there just is. There are states all over the world that say you can’t own firearms — and that’s not true anymore.

“I’m seeing a world where technology says you can pretty much be able to have whatever you want. It’s not up to the political players any more.”

The gun is also the “first” 3D printed gun in just the most technical sense, as there are have been designs for single-use guns and gun components for years. However, the Liberator can be manufactured entirely in the 3D printer (with the exception of the small firing pin) and is reusable.

The RCMP says it has been monitoring the technology, and stressed there could be legal implications to using it.

“It is illegal to manufacture or possess a firearm without appropriate licences and applicable registrations,” warned RCMP spokesperson Julie Gagnon in a statement. “If law enforcement found an individual in possession of a 3D printer-manufactured firearm or parts of a firearm (e.g. magazines, barrels), without appropriate licences and registration, the firearm could be seized and the individual charged.”

Tony Bernardo, the acting director or the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, said the ability to produce printable firearms won’t be a problem for Canadians.

“It’s a total non-issue,” Bernardo said. “People have been making firearms by hand for 400 years. Many of the firearms that were used in World War I were produced in factories that didn’t even have electricity.”

Nonetheless, experts acknowledge the introduction of firearms and firearm components to 3D printing technology could make their acquisition easier.

The BBC asked Wilson if he felt any sense of responsibility about who might get access to a 3D gun, he agreed guns might be used to harm people.

“But I don’t think that’s a reason to not do it – or a reason not to put it out there,” he said.

No one from Defense Distributed was available for comment to Postmedia News, but its website makes clear the role it is playing in the highly charged U.S. gun debate.

“This project might change the way we think about gun control and consumption,” its website reads. “How do governments behave if they must one day operate on the assumption that any and every citizen has near instant access to a firearm through the Internet? Let’s find out.”

Errol Mendes, a professor of law at the University of Ottawa, says no specific law in Canada covers 3D guns.

“Because the technology is so new, I would be surprised if there was any law that regulated it,” Mendes said. But he added, “if there is an ability to actually 3D print prohibited weapons, then yes, one could be charged with importation of prohibited weapons.”

In Canada, anyone who does not already hold a licence for a prohibited firearm can be found guilty of an indictable offence if they are in possession of, or potentially if they print parts for, a prohibited firearm.